


War Changes

by witchcraftpoptart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Heartfelt Conversations, quiet nights on the castleship, unacknowledged longing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 13:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17426984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchcraftpoptart/pseuds/witchcraftpoptart
Summary: Nightmares keep Lance awake at night. Pidge sits alone on the bridge looking at star charts of home. War changes people in ways they couldn't be prepared for.





	War Changes

His chest squeezed tight. There wasn't any air. There wasn't any light. His helmet was gone. No matter how hard he struggled, he wasn't getting anywhere.  
He was lost in space.  
Suffocating.

Lance woke up with a violent gasp, launching out of bed and to his feet in one fluid motion.  
Deep breaths.  
Deep even breaths.

He started listing facts.

He was in his room on the Castle of Lions. He wasn't floating through empty space, alone.  
He was drenched in sweat.  
It was the middle of the night cycle.  
He didn't want to go back to sleep.

With a heavy sigh, he walked out into the corridors. Lance had long since discovered anything he considered interesting in this section of the ship, so he just wandered. He just couldn't sit by himself, he needed to move.  
There was no one in the lounge, not that he expected there to be. No one training, that was almost surprising. As he approached the bridge, he noticed shifting lights that meant someone was awake.  
He rounded the corner and seen Pidge, sitting cross-legged on the floor, lazily scrolling through star charts.

“What are you doing up?” Lance asked, leaning against the wall casually. Pidge jumped slightly, turning back to look at him.  
“Same as you, I expect.” She turned back to her charts. He took it as an invitation.

“Dreaming about suffocating alone in space?” Lance asked bluntly, as he walked towards her. She looked at him as he sat down, taken aback. He must be tired, he usually wouldn't even hint at his all too common nightmares.  
“Um, no.” Pidge said. “Not exactly.” She refocused on her star chart. “I'm homesick.” She admitted.  
Lance looked at her star chart, recognising it. Earth sat in the centre, with its peaceful simulated rotation.

“Great, now I am too.” Lance muttered, feeling the all too familiar prickle behind his eyes.  
“Sorry.” Pidge muttered, leaning her head on his shoulder. He knew he could cry in front of her, but he was just too tired.  
“What's the first thing you'll do when we get home?” He asked, preparing his response in list form.  
“Do you think we can go home?” She asked, voice harder than she intended.  
“We're not prisoners.” Lance reminded her. “Eventually this will be over and we can go wherever we want.”  
“I can't imagine it.” She admitted quietly.  
“What?”  
“Earth. My life there. I feel like I gave up on a normal life when Dad and Matt went missing, it consumed me. Now that I've found them, and Dad’s home, things haven't gone back to normal.”  
“There's still battles to fight.” He reminded her gently.  
“What about when it's over? When does it go back to normal?”

“What kind of life did you want?” Lance asked.  
“What?” Pidge sat up and he immediately missed her, the comfort of her weight. She turned slightly to face him.  
“Tell me about the 'normal’ life you wanted, and I'll tell you that it isn't all it's cracked up to be.” He smiled encouragingly, but she still looked skeptical. “Okay, we'll start with some softballs. Did you always want to be in the Garrison?”  
“Yeah.” Pidge blushed. “Pretty much. Especially after Matt got in. I wanted to be a pilot though.”  
“What? Really?”  
“Yeah, I know it's kind of dumb.” She shrugged, curling in on herself.  
“No! Pidge, you would have been a great pilot. You are a great pilot!” She smiled and blushed a little deeper. “You definitely would have bumped me and Keith.” Lance grinned.  
“I figured I could be a top pilot and then I could be the pilot for future Holt missions.” She said, offering a bit more information.  
“What else?” Lance asked, eyes bright and attentive.  
“I figured I would settle down, maybe marry a cute mechanic and have a couple kids.” She shrugged, looking at her shoes. “You know, normal stuff.”  
“Instead you're a hero, saving civilizations in the far reaches of space that no one on Earth even knows about.”  
“I'm a soldier, Lance. Conscripted by a ancient alien princess. When thi- If I live through this, I'll be a war veteran and I probably won't even be old enough to drink.”

A heavy silence filled the bridge, and Lance couldn't find the words to comfort her, because everything she said was true. And he'd been running from it too.  
“Pidge,” he started, taking her hand in his, “you're right. Our lives aren't normal, and I don't know if they can ever be normal by Earth standards again, but you're not alone.” He studied her small, pale hand, running his thumb over her knuckles, unable to look her in the eye. “Out here or back home, we all have each other.” He gave her hand a soft squeeze and finally looked up to see tears welling in her eyes.  
“We can't stay together forever.” She said. Lance felt a pang in his chest - 'Can’t we?’ it seemed to say. “Eventually people will want to get on with their lives.”  
“Yeah, okay.” Lance laughed. “Pidge, you're the best of us, if you get stuck in this, what hope do the rest of us have?”  
“Hunk might be okay.” She mused.  
“Hunk might be okay.” Lance conceded. “The rest of us though? Hopeless.”

“What kind of life do you want?” She asked him.  
“I don't know. I want to go home and see my family again, but after that, who knows. I always prepared for a life that would take me far from home for long stretches of time. Maybe back to space, maybe for the Garrison. Whatever I do, I don't want to do it alone.”

Pidge smiled, grabbing his shirt with her free hand and drawing her to him, resting her head against his chest.  
“Team Voltron.” She muttered.  
“Yeah.” Lance smiled and wrapped his arm around her in a comfortable embrace, still clutching her hand. "Wherever that takes us."


End file.
